Omar Elsharkawy presents at the CACSL Conference 2016. ©Stephen Hill

Omar Elsharkawy, CFICE Admin RA

Having the opportunity to present your work and research at an academic conference is an incredible one that I did not think I would have at this stage in my academic career. At the 2016 CACSL conference: Impact for Sustainability, I got to present a presentation titled Student Experiences with Campus-Community Engagement: Impacts and Challenges with my colleagues and CFICE RAs, Aaron Kozak and Amanda LeFrancois. CFICE offered to send us to Calgary to present our presentation and gave us freedom to present on whichever topics we’d like. At the conference I got to meet a lot of people doing work in community-campus engagement (CCE) and community service learning (CSL), professors, students, community organizations, volunteer centers, and many more. In addition to networking with professionals and academics, I got to listen in and was very inspired by all the innovations regarding CSL��and CCE��across the country.

Aaron Kozak, Poverty Hub RA

CACSL was my first foray into giving an academic presentation. Since our presentation was on the second day, I was able to see how other presenters organized their talks in order to give me an idea about the audience I would be speaking to. I learned that even though all of the people there had things in common – we were all drawn together by our shared stakes in community service learning – we came from a variety of backgrounds with an array of ideologies. As one of the only teams of student presenters, we were able to offer a unique perspective of the student experience of community-based education – opportunities for which were largely lacking in our education up until being involved with CFICE. Overall, the opportunity to share our research and learn from others was hugely illuminating.

CFICE RAs Aaron Kozak, Amanda Lafrancois, and Omar Elsharkawy present at CACSL Conference 2016. ©Stephen Hill

Amanda Lafrancois, Poverty Hub RA

When asked to join fellow Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement (CFICE) research assistants in presenting at the Canadian Association of Community-Service Learning (CACSL) conference in Calgary, Alberta, I was excited, nervous, and very appreciative. I was excited to further knowledge of the positive impacts of the CFICE project, and give details about the specific work that in Windsor, Ontario has been working on over the past two years. I was also somewhat nervous because I had never given a presentation at a conference before, only poster presentations, and I was unsure what to expect. Lastly, I felt so much appreciation to CFICE for having been given this incredible opportunity to present the research that Pathway to Potential had been working on to other individuals interested in similar topics.

Our presentation titled, Student Experiences with Campus Community Engagement: Impacts and Challenges, gave specific examples of our personal experiences, along with some recommendations based on the realities of being a student involved with campus-community engagement (CCE), and community-based research (CBR). It was a very necessary presentation as many others were discussing the impacts CCE, CBR, and community service learning (CSL) has on students who are involved, though there were few actually from the perspective of the student. It was very powerful to give our unbiased experiences with the various CCE we have been exposed to at several universities because they all had similar themes: (1) there was an action component missing from the form of engagement, and (2) the projects were not community first. By giving our student experiences with CCE to the attendees, we hopefully brought some awareness that while intentions might be in the right direction, there sometimes are aspects missing.

Anther important experience I was afforded while attending the conference was the ability to network with like-minded individuals who were working on similar projects. After our presentation I was approached by two individuals who were very intrigued by the work Pathway to Potential was developing and wanted more information. Similarly, I sat in on several lectures and workshops where I thought the research conducted was pertinent to our work as well. The opportunity to attend the CACSL��conference was once in a lifetime and the knowledge gained from both presenting and listening to other presenters was invaluable. This experience will be one that I will keep with me throughout my educational career, and throughout my life as well.

���ԲԲ���Przednowek, Violence Against Women��Hub RA

Anna Przednowek presenting at the CACSL Conference 2016.

This June I had the opportunity to participate in the Canadian Alliance ��for Community Service Learning ��Conference (CACSL) where I presented a�� brief overview of the collaborative community projects in the VAW hub at CFICE. I have always been interested in and participated in community-service learning (CSL) opportunities during my undergraduate and graduate studies. ��A connection to the community has always kept my academic work very grounded in what is currently happening in the field, and gave me an opportunity to give back. Prior to the preparation for this conference and attending this conference, I knew little of ��CSL models, despite the fact that I participated in CSL for many years. ��I found the CACSL conference very informative as it exposed me to a whole range of CSL frameworks in various disciplines which ignited a whole new area of academic interest for me.

Over a number of years and across a variety of courses, Sprott has implemented projects ranging in duration and topic in order to facilitate a ‘practice’ perspective for the students in Sprott’s Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of International Business programs. Sprott has received lots of feedback from students, in the form of anecdotal accounts and more structured feedback exercises, and some feedback from community partners, but mostly the latter was limited to student performance during the actual project and anticipated benefits should the organization adopt the recommendations made by the student teams. Sprott therefore undertook this study to determine the impact their��CSL projects made on community partners over a longer term.

This project is still ongoing, with evaluations scheduled for the Fall/Winter term from 2016 – 2017. Below is the interim report, completed by project leads��Leighann C. Neilson, Ph.D. and��Lindsay McShane, Ph.D.

The Office of Community-Based Research at the University of Victoria is a partner of CFICE’s Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) hub. For the past three and a half years they have been working in conjunction with local community organizations, university students, and faculty on a project titled “Embracing community outcomes: Using student engagement as knowledge mobilization”. Recently they have completed and submitted an article, titled Knowledge Mobilization through Student Community Engagement, to the Canadian Alliance for Community Service-Learning (CACSL) for publication as part of CACSL’s 2016 conference book.

The University of Victoria research team. ©Kathy Sanford

The focus they have taken in this study is to determine how university students can be used as knowledge mobilizers, or liaisons, between the community organizations and university instructors and administers involved in community-campus partnerships. In short, the study seeks to understand how every party involved can benefit more from better knowledge mobilization during co-operative education placements and practicums.

“One of the things is recognizing that the students have a very important role to play in knowledge. One of the findings [of the research] is that we need to pay much closer attention to communication across the sectors; particularly the university needs to be better aware of the needs of community organizations and responsive to those needs,” said Kathy Sanford, a co-applicant for the project and a professor with the faculty of Education at the University of Victoria.

For the study, interviews were conducted with students and community members at different levels of community organizations. Practicum and co-op coordinators, and other people on campus who have been involved with community organizations and placements, were also included in data collection. The interviews were then coded, analyzed, and key themes identified.

A researcher gives a presentation at University of Victoria’s focus group event on February 3, 2016. ©Kathy Sanford

With the article completed, Kathy said, “We’re deciding now where we want to take it, not just in terms of research, because I’m not sure where that is actually going, but for our own institution and our own benefits.”

The researchers and university participants have found the meetings held with community organizations of considerable value. Kathy noted the enthusiasm that came from having these conversations and sharing in mobilizing knowledge between different organizations.

“We’ve talked about things like having a database that can connect community organizations with the needs of the students in our programs in different ways; that [way] we can make the university more accessible to people in the community.”

University of Victoria team members debrief after their focus group event on February 3, 2016. ©Kathy Sanford

Many programs at University of Victoria have a practicum experience attached to them and they are looking at how they can offer experiential learning to every student. To achieve this, Kathy said, “We need to have better communications between community organizations and the people who are placing students in different community organizations so that…students are aware of the expectations of the organization and are able to be as best prepared as they can be in going out to those placements.”

Research aims to make a difference in communities and knowledge mobilization aims to make that research accessible. The results of this study can offer solutions to making current research more accessible and can offer ideas regarding ways to improve community-university partnerships.

“How can we be aware of the needs of each other, like a symbiotic kind of relationship,” Kathy asked of the study findings. “How do we better develop positive relationships with people, and then find ways to do placements that are mutually supportive and not just placements that are of expedience and trying to fill slots, but actually having more face-to-face personal connection?”

According to Kathy, the answers include recognizing the needs of community organizations and allowing them space to share them, developing mutual respect between partners, and valuing the knowledge that community agency workers have. As Kathy reiterated, “All knowledge is valuable and valued.”

For more information about this study, please contact CFICE.

As part of the , which takes place May 25 to 27 at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Volunteer Alberta is hosting a networking series where academics, volunteer centres, and community organizations can share their knowledge and experiences.

Katherine Topolniski, Creative Director at Volunteer Canada ©kbtphotography

“We are intentionally setting the scene for integrated dialogue and productive networking between [these three groups],” says Katherine Topolniski, Creative Director for Volunteer Alberta.

“In one of the Network Sessions we are focusing on discovering possibilities and creating opportunities to work together,” explains Topolniski. “We’re working to create the space in this session for participants to begin to shape the next steps they might take after the conference to initiate, grow, deepen, or scale current and/or emerging work. This is an opportunity for participants to move from recognizing the potential to beginning to harness it.”

In addition to this series of networking events, the conference will be exploring the theme of “Impact for Sustainability” with presentations from a number of Community Service Learning (CSL) and Community Engagement (CE) organizations – including those associated with CFICE.

Confirmed speakers for the conference include:

• Patti H. Clayton, an with over fifteen years of experience as a practitioner-scholar and educational developer in community-campus engagement and experiential education
• Chelsea R. Willness,��a passionate champion of community-engaged scholarship who currently holds two national research grants (SSHRC) for her research focusing on how stakeholders respond to organizations’ environmental practices and community involvement
• Leah K. Hamilton, a Principal Investigator (SSHRC Insight Development Grant) and Co-Investigator (SSHRC Insight Grant) for two research projects focused on various ways to facilitate the settlement and integration of immigrants in Canada
• Stephen Hill,��an associate professor in the new School of Environment at Trent University whose research focuses on environmental and renewable energy management and policy in Canada

The conference will also feature engaging lunch panels focused on inter-organizational collaboration in environment sustainability, community engagement with��First Nations communities, and a panel on Community Prosperity.

For more information about the conference, or to register, please visit

Final registration is Thursday, May 19.

CACSL and Mount Royal University (MRU) will be hosting the from May 25-27, 2016 at MRU in Calgary, Alberta.

The conference will be offered over three days, with the first day dedicated to two streams of activities for which conference attendees may pre-register. The two streams on the first day will be dedicated to the Volunteer Centre Network (VCN) and the TransCanada Forum for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) which will be focused on��sharing and developing teaching and learning research about CSL.��Conference tracks for concurrent sessions on May 26 and 27 will be structured to address a��full spectrum of topics including discussion of the partnership relationships between community organizations and academic institutions.

To present at the conference, please submit your proposal by January 31, 2016 via the .

CACSL and Mount Royal University (MRU) will be hosting the from May 25-27, 2016 at MRU in Calgary, Alberta.

The conference will be offered over three days, with the first day dedicated to two streams of activities for which conference attendees may pre-register. The two streams on the first day will be dedicated to the Volunteer Centre Network (VCN) and the TransCanada Forum for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) which will be focused on��sharing and developing teaching and learning research about CSL.��Conference tracks for concurrent sessions on May 26 and 27 will be structured to address a��full spectrum of topics including discussion of the partnership relationships between community organizations and academic institutions.

To present at the conference, please submit your proposal by January 15, 2016 via the .

When the��Canadian Alliance for Community Service Learning hosted their workshop, participants noted an interest in knowing about publishing opportunities. Where to get published is a challenge for the broad range of CSL knowledge products: Tools, frameworks, infographics, scholarly articles, books, blogs, to mention a few.

CACSL has gathered lists of journals and publishers that are potential dissemination media for your work.

Blogs, Articles, Frameworks, Infographics, Announcements, Events, Videos:

CACSL blog accepts items of interest to those involved in community engaged collaborations: academics, community organizations, students, individuals please feel free to submit your item via the��form.�� You may also highlight your items using Twitter @CSLCanada,��, or the��.

• • We’ve compiled a list of journals related to CE.�� Your additions to the list are welcomed via the submit a resource form.
• • Publishers frequently used by our members are listed.���� Your additions to the list are welcomed via the submit a resource form.

Submit a resource:

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Title of publishing resource’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Type of resource’ type=’select’ required=’1′ options=’Journal,Website,Blog,Book Publisher,Other (please specify)’/][contact-field label=’If indicated %26quot;Other%26quot; in dropdown list.’ type=’text’/][contact-field label=’Brief description of resource’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Submission dates (if known)’ type=’text’/][contact-field label=’Publishing frequency’ type=’select’ required=’1′ options=’Daily,Weekly,Monthly,Quarterly,Semi-Annually,Ongoing’/][contact-field label=’Publishing criteria (if known)’ type=’textarea’/][contact-field label=’Contact info’ type=’email’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][/contact-form]

Volunteer Opportunities with CACSL

We invite community organizations, academics, and students to join the CACSL Steering Committee.�� Expectations include: participation in monthly meetings and in at least one working group such as those outlined below:

Opportunities to connect:

• Biannual conference- Victoria Calvert, Chair
• Biannual Workshop (with C²U Expo, May 2015)-Chair needed
• Webinar Series – Current committee
• Blog
• Dialogue Forum

Membership Development

Registering as a not for profit organization

C²U Expo – Volunteers needed for working committees and CACSL workshop (program, communications, engagement, sponsorship/fundraising) and event implementation.

For more information contact:��geri@communityservicelearning.ca

Personal Context:�� Director of the Canadian Alliance for Community Service-Learning-�� a not for profit organization partnering with �Ӱ�ԭ�� University�� in a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council funded research grant.�� First time attendee of CPPH I thank the organizers and presenters for providing an excellent opportunity to learn and network.�� See you at C²UExpo 2015, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, Ottawa, ON, May 25-29, 2015.

Highlights:

It Shoulda Been Me- Site Visit�� to

• Gut-wrenching tear inducing, and a powerful vehicle for making a difference by using theatre arts for behavioural health interventions.
• Site visit to participate in a theatre production delving into the issues of living in the midst of street violence, family violence, survivor guilt, gender issues, and seeking help to find a way out of the cycles of violence.
• A powerful play, made more so by the sharing by the audience afterwards of their stories. The play touches the heart and the mind.
• They shared a bit of their world by sharing one way of finding solutions by reaching youth.

Achieving the Anchor Promise

The Democracy Collaborative, Great Cities Institute

• Focused on the role of educational institutions’ role in community and economic development. Institutional hiring practices, spending decisions, and mission to contribute to the economic and social well-being of their community were explored.
• Something for Canadian communities and educational institutions to explore more fully- Community engagement is broader than teaching and research activities.

Asking Permission to Come Ashore

A community builds on the metaphor of the healing journey by canoe to create culturally grounded interventions. ���� Youtube video

It’s All �Ӱ�ԭ������Relationships (

University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg Boldness Project

• A demonstration of how powerful community can be when community organizations work together to define their agenda and engage with academic institutions to share resources.
• Winnipeg inner city organizations in collaboration with their educational institutions tackle multiple issues.
• Research project is different in that the applicant for the SSHRC grant is a not for profit organization

This is a Very Unusual Circumstance and any Future Requests Would Have to Be Pre-approved.

Pictou Landing Native Women’s Association, Dalhousie University

A deeply moving sharing of personal stories of involvement in a research project initiated by the Women’s Council on a reserve to address concerns of pollution impacts from a local paper mill.

A small Canadian rebellion–What do the words mean and other conversations?��

Spent time with the Canadian group digging deeper on what we really mean when we use words like: community, engagement, respect, partnership, trust and others.�� Also reflected on the various networks for community engagement and their role in supporting community engagement, what changes do we want to see, and what are some things to do to get there.

New words and phrases:

Cultural Humility replaces Cultural Competence

Theatre of the Oppressed http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?useFlash=0

Pimping their pain- pseudo change rather than systemic change.

Healthy Resilient Communities

Community Service Learning and Community Engagement Conference Call for Posters, Papers, Workshops and Storytelling Volunteer Canada, Canadian Alliance for Community Service-Learning, Algonquin College, and Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement are pleased to host the 2014 CSL and CE Conference. The conference theme will be to explore the contributions of community campus partnerships in supporting the development and maintenance of healthy resilient communities.����The conference will be held in Ottawa, May 28 to 30 2014.

Social, environmental, political, economic, and physical factors combine to support the development and maintenance of healthy resilient communities. Community resiliency is the ongoing ability of a community to work together, to identify their strengths and challenges, to mobilize their assets, and to work collectively to achieve their vision.

Community agencies and educational institutions working together contribute to healthy resilient community.�� This Conference encourages participants to explore a wide range of issues related to research, curriculum design, and assessment of impact upon community partners, institutional support, community connections and partnerships, student development, and faculty or community partner motivation and development, with the goal of providing participants with perspectives of how we can facilitate healthy resilient communities. The conference focus will be to share research, ��successes, and ideas for collaboration through multiple methods. We encourage joint academic/community submissions.

Please indicate whether you intend to present in English, French or bilingually.

We welcome your proposal, which should be submitted by e-mail to Victoria Calvert, Program Co-Chair, at VCalvert@mtroyal.ca�� Deadline for submission of proposals: February 28, 2014 Your proposal or abstract should include: 1. Presenter information (names, titles, organization or institution, e-mail addresses, phone number) 2. Selected format of presentation (oral presentation, poster, storytelling circle, workshop, consultation or other) 3. Proposal or abstract (not to exceed 300 words) Deadline for submission of proposals: February 28, 2014

We look forward to sharing stories of your successes and ideas in Ottawa.

Conference Co-Chairs:

Jane Trakalo, Algonquin College�� and Jane Hennig, Kitchener-Waterloo Action Centre